אָחוֹת
ʼâchôwth · H269 · Hebrew · 114 occurrences
Person
Meanings
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sister, half-sister
Daughter of one's father, whether from the same mother or not; sometimes associated with affection; often extended figuratively to refer to other objects that are regarded as feminine
ExamplesGenesis 4:22 As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
Genesis 12:13 “Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well for me because of you, and that I may live on account of you.”
Genesis 12:19 “Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for myself as a wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her and go!”
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sister, cousin, niece, kinswoman, relative
Female member of same family, clan, tribe, or ethnic group
ExamplesGenesis 24:59 So they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse with Abraham’s servant and his men.
Genesis 24:60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “May you, our sister, Become thousands of ten thousands, And may your descendants possess The gate of those who hate them.”
Numbers 25:18 for they have been hostile to you with their tricks, with which they have deceived you in the matter of Peor and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister who was killed on the day of the plague because of Peor.”
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sister > friend
Friendly and endearing way to address a woman
ExamplesJob 17:14 If I call to the grave, ‘You are my father’; To the maggot, ‘my mother and my sister’;
Song of Solomon 4:9 “You have enchanted my heart, my sister, my bride; You have enchanted my heart with a single glance of your eyes, With a single strand of your necklace.
Song of Solomon 4:10 “How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much sweeter is your love than wine, And the fragrance of your oils Than that of all kinds of balsam oils!
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sister > another of the same
Expression denoting a situation in which two people or objects that are regarded as feminine are involved in a reciprocal event
ExamplesExodus 26:3 “Five curtains shall be joined to one another, and the other five curtains shall be joined to one another.
Exodus 26:5 “You shall make fifty loops in the one curtain, and you shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set; the loops shall be opposite each other.
Exodus 26:6 “You shall also make fifty clasps of gold, and join the curtains to one another with the clasps so that the tabernacle will be a unit.
How it’s used In 9 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive
109 occurrences in 22 groups
- יmy 20
- הּher 18
- הוּhis 17
- ךְyour 14
- הֶםtheir 13
- נוּour 4
- Other words · 16 groups that occur once or twice (23) 23
Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles
10 occurrences in 6 groups
- קָטָןsmall 3
- גָּדוֹלgreat, large 2
- הָיָהto be, to become 2
- גָּעַלto reject 1
- יָפֶהbeautiful 1
- שָׁלוֹשׁthree 1
Named alongside itApposition
43 occurrences in 27 groups
- בַּתdaughter 9
- תָּמָרdate palm 6
- כַּלָּהdaughter-in-law 4
- סְדֹםSodom 3
- רִבְקָהRebecca 3
- Other words · 22 groups that occur once or twice (26) 26
What it doesIt is the subject
6 occurrences in 5 groups
- יָלַדto bear 2
- יָצַבto take position 1
- אָמַרto say 1
- רָאָהto see 1
- בּוֹאto come, to go in, to bring 1
What is done to itIt is the object
16 occurrences in 9 groups
- אָמַרto say 5
- Other words · 8 groups that occur once or twice (11) 11
What it is said to bePredicate
10 occurrences in 11 groups
- Other words · 11 groups that occur once or twice (12) 12
What is said to be itIt is the predicate
13 occurrences in 4 groups
- הוּאhe, she, it 7
- אַתָּהyou 3
- שֶׂרַחSerah 2
- תָּמָרdate palm 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
19 occurrences in 4 groups
- אֵלto, toward 10
- לto/for 10
- עִםwith 4
- בin/on/with 2
In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive
15 occurrences in 8 groups
- עֶרְוָהnakedness 6
- כּוֹסcup 2
- שֵׁםname 2
- בֵּןson 1
- דֶּרֶךְway, road 1
- זָנוּןwhoredom, prostitution 1
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
In the other Testament 1 word
- ἀδελφή adelphḗ · G79 · sister, fellow believer, sister in Christ
- Greek ἀδελφή renders Hebrew אָחוֹת across both literal kinship contexts and extended ecclesiastical/covenantal fellowship senses.
Semantic domains 3 entries
- Relatives001001003012
- אָחוֹת names a sister, as Naamah called the sister of Tubal-cain, or Sarah presented as Abram's sister.
- Titles003001017
- The word can function as a term of address or designation used deliberately, as in Abram's request that Sarah be called his sister.
- Object Referents003001
- אָחוֹת also serves as a general referring term pointing back to a previously named female relative.
Word family 5 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H269. achoth אָחוֺת114 noun feminine sister (Phoenician אחת, Aramaic אֲחָת , Arabic ,…
אָחוֺת114 noun feminine sister (Phoenician אחת, Aramaic אֲחָת , Arabic , Assyrian a—âtu, Dlw, Ethiopic Sabean in proper name אחֿתאמהו OsZMG 1865, 273) — absolute ׳אָ 2Sa 13:1 + (never with article); construct אֲחוֺת Gen 4:22 +; suffix אֲחֹתִי (אֲחוֺתִי) Gen 12:13 +, etc.; plural suffix אַחְוֺתַי (Qr אַחְיוֺתַי) Jos 2:13; אֲחוֺתַיִח Eze 16:51 (Qr; Kt אחותך) + 2 t. (Co all ׳אחיו); אַחֲיוֺתֵח Eze 16:52 (Co תֿיך); אֲחוֺתֵח Eze 16:52 (must be plural, but strike out Co); אַחְיֹתָיו Job 42:11; אֲחוֺתֵיכֶם Hos 2:3; אַחְיֹתֵיהֶם 1Ch 2:16; Job 1:4 —
1 sister Gen 4:22; Gen 12:13, Gen 12:19; Gen 20:2, Gen 20:5, Gen 20:12 (same father, different mother) so Lev 18:11 compare Eze 22:11; Gen 24:30 (twice in verse) +, Exo 2:4, Exo 2:7; Lev 18:9 (either parent same) so Deu 27:22; Num 6:7; 2Sa 13:1-2, 2Sa 13:4 +, Son 8:8 (twice in verse); called upon, in mourning for dead Jer 22:18; = near relative Gen 24:59-60, (or because Laban prominent ? so Di); /man of same nationality Num 25:18 compare Hos 2:3.
2 = beloved Son 4:9-10, Son 4:12; Son 5:12 (4 t. || כַּלָּה bride; phrase originally implying that marriage with half-sister — of same father — was allowed? compare NöZMG 1886, 150 & Gen 20:12).
3 symbolic of Judah, Samaria, Sodom & Jerusalem Jer 3:7-8, Jer 3:10; Eze 16:45, Eze 16:52 (twice in verse) (strike out Co) +, Eze 23:4, Eze 23:11 +.
4 figurative of intimate connection לָרִמָּה וַאֲחֹתִי אִמִּי ֗֗֗ קָרָאתִי Job 17:14; אַתְּ אֲחֹתִי לַחָכְמָה אֱמֹר Pro 7:4.
5. another, אֶלאֲֿחֹתָהּ אִשָּׁה, of curtains of tabernacle Exo 26:3 (twice in verse); Exo 26:6; loops Exo 26:5, tenons Exo 26:17; of wings of living creatures, Ezekiel's vision Eze 1:9, Eze 1:23; Eze 3:13; not of persons, but see רְעוּת.
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 3 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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